Chris Boardman's Lotus to display in Liverpool

Chris Boardman's Lotus to display in Liverpool

Take a closer look at Chris Boardman’s Lotus at the Museum of Liverpool

The £72 million project opens to the public on Tuesday July 19

Chris Boardman’s Lotus bike, which powered the three-time Tour de France stage winner to Olympic individual pursuit gold in 1992, will be displayed at the Musuem of Liverpool when it opens on Tuesday July 19.

The largest newly-built national museum in Britain for more than a century, the £72 million Museum of Liverpool will sit on the city’s waterfront.

And, being a local lad, Boardman has donated his Mike Burrows-designed bike, which used carbon fibre molded into a monocoque frame.

Other exhibits will include John Conteh’s boxing gloves and WBC title belt, Red Rum’s silks, a whole host of football memorabilia and even three-time world champion gymnast Beth Tweddle’s leotard.

The Museum of Liverpool is the first national museum anywhere in the world that is devoted to the history of a regional city. Demonstrating Liverpool’s extraordinary contribution to the world, it will showcase popular culture and tackle the social, historical and contemporary issues of the city.

“Liverpool’s waterfront is known the world over, and we are pleased that we will soon be welcoming visitors to what is undoubtedly a stunning addition to that World Heritage Site,” said professor Phil Redmond, chairman of National Museums Liverpool.

“Liverpool’s role in history is also known the world over, as is its iconic symbol, the Liver Bird. It is fitting then that the first purpose-built museum to examine a city’s role in world history, is opening its doors 100 years to the day that the Liver Building itself opened for business.”

David Fleming, director of National Museums Liverpool, added: “The Museum of Liverpool is all about telling the stories of the city and its people. This includes the times of struggle such as the Toxteth riots, the triumphs of our musical exports including The Beatles, and the dramatic histories of our football teams.

“Every single event has helped shape this city’s personality. The Museum of Liverpool is here to tell the tale, and like the Liver Building, will be around for many years to come.”

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I am really sorry to say this, but this bike is not a Lotus! This is the Dunlop HOTTA bike built before the lotus design. Chris was sponsored by Merkx at the time, hence the badges. Only a few were made and I have one on my wall, that is why I know. They was used in the Tour in ’98 (That’s the one pictured. Notice covered rear-mech cable hole and front hanger.) and the one hour record (my one). The Lotus design is quite different and was influenced by this great monocoque design. Hotta did produce a few of these, but only 2 were custom made for Chris, hence the one-piece seatpost specifically for his leg-length.

Richard Hallett

3 years ago

I’m sorry to say this, but you are wrong, TTYC. The bike shown is a Lotus. The Hotta frame used for the Dunlop Hotta was a cross-frame design as depicted here: http://www.bikebrothers.co.uk/hotta.htm. In fact, the Merckx-badged Lotus as shown and used by Chris Boardman when riding for GAN was a road version of the Lotus bike he used to win the 1992 Olympic pursuit championships. This in turn was based on a carbon monocoque design by Mike Burrows. If the bike you have looks like the one in the pic, it’s a Lotus. If it looks like the bike on the bikebrothers site, it’s a Hotta. Arriving later than the Lotus, the Hotta design was similar to the Metron frames made by Dimitris Katsanis, who designed the current UK track bikes.

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